


Connections

by bluefroggy78



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-15 21:41:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28945335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluefroggy78/pseuds/bluefroggy78
Summary: She was tied to the whole team in ways that no one could fathom.  Some ties closer than others.As always I own nothing, but my original characters.Let me know if I should keep this one going.  I kind of lost inspiration for this, but am going back and thinking about finishing it.
Relationships: Spencer Reid/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

Life had been easy for Lindy Muzzarelli until her senior year of high school. Then everything changed.  
She had been adopted as a newborn and her adoptive parents doted on her and gave her anything and everything she ever wanted or needed. Not that she was spoiled, quite the opposite actually. She always made good grades and stayed out of trouble. She was thankful for everything in her life. She had been into soccer, but an injury at summer soccer camp the summer after her freshman year ended any soccer dreams. Her sophomore year of high school, she became interested in politics, but a summer internship at an Ambassador’s Office quickly decided that wasn’t for her. The summer after her junior year she decided to tour colleges to see where she may want to go after high school. That summer changed her life forever.  
While touring different campuses throughout California, she met him. she had never paid much attention to the boys in her high school, but there was something about him. He wasn’t as juvenile as the other boys their age. He took her to tour some of the best schools in the Los Angeles and Pasadena area pointing out the which ones had the best libraries. She in turn got him out in the sun and showed him how to have fun, even at the beach. They tried not to go to far and limit the physical side of their budding relationship to chaste kisses, hugs, and holding hands. But, like most teenagers, her last night in California they got a little carried away. It was the first time for both of them and that one moment of indiscretion she knew there would never be another for her. They both cried when he took her to the airport the next morning, but promised to write each other every day and she promised that she would be back as soon as she had a holiday. But, it would be years before they saw each other again.  
Not long after she returned home, she was kicked out of her home and spent several months on the street. She tried to make it back to him, but by the time she made it to Chicago, she knew she probably would never make it that far. She decided to make a life for herself. With a little help from a woman that would become like another mother to her, she got a job and got on her feet proving to herself that she could do it.  
Fifteen years later, she moved to Washington D.C. so that her daughter could finish out high school from a top rated exclusive private school, that she had earned a scholarship to. Not long after the move she ran into her adoptive Uncle and was able to at least reconnect with him and he helped her make the adjustment and get back to school herself, while she worked at his publishing company in the editing department mostly because she rarely had to actually go in to her office. They sent her files thru email for her to edit, making it easy for her to work from home and go to school.


	2. Chapter 2

“Come in,” Hotch said seeing Dave Rossi standing in his doorway.  
Rossi casually made his way over to one of the chairs opposite from Hotch’s desk and sat down without saying a word.  
“What’s up, Dave?” Hotch questioned curious about what this little visit was about.  
“Nothing much, Aaron. The director and Cruze have already ok’d it, but it’s now up to you. My niece is taking a criminology class and has asked if she could observe us on our next case. She would be paying her own expenses. Staying out of our way, just observing, taking notes that type of thing.”  
“I didn’t know you had a niece.”  
“My youngest sister’s daughter. They adopted her. She is now thirty two. I know it may sound a little old for a college student, but she’s had a bit of a rough several years. She’s very smart, but she had a baby at seventeen and my sister and her husband kicked her out. She has made it on her own and raised her daughter on her own. I only asked because she deserves this chance. She has worked very hard for everything she has.”  
“Who will be keeping her daughter while she does this?”  
“My housekeeper. Kat is a delightful girl and almost as brilliant as Reid. I’ve only gotten to know her over the last couple of months, but I think that kid could give him a run for his money. She’s going to graduate high school early too. Not as early as she’d like to, but right after her sixteenth birthday. Lindy has made her wait, she’s tried to make sure she has as close to normal a childhood as possible. Not easy when she’s so smart. Kat also shows signs of having an eidetic or photographic memory. She hasn’t been tested yet. Lindy is somewhat scared to test her. She doesn’t want everyone trying to recruit her so young.”  
“I can understand and respect that. I guess, I can allow it this one time. We have never let anyone before, but since she’s your niece... She just can not in any way hinder our investigation.”  
“She won’t. By the way, what’s with you today? You’ve stayed locked up in here all day and you were far away somewhere when I first came to the door.”  
“This is just a hard day for me every year. It’s part of why I joined the bureau. Thirty five years ago today, my sister disappeared. She was eighteen. I’ve tried through the years to go through cold cases to see if anyone stood out that could have been her and tried to see if I could find her alive, but I’ve never found anything. It’s like she just vanished off the face of the earth.”  
“That couldn’t have been easy. How old were you then?”  
“Twelve. Sean was five. I just wish we could find closure. I just want to know what happened to her.”  
“Were you close?”  
“Yes and no. For the most part we were, she was the only one that could get my father to stop when he would get drunk and start to beat me. But there were things she kept to herself too. Part of me has always wondered what he did to her, but I don’t know if I want to know either.”  
“My guess is that you probably don’t want to know. Sometimes not knowing is better than your fears being realized.”  
“I know. I still want to know what happened to her after...” he stopped when he noticed Penelope Garcia stop by his door. “Yes, Garcia, can I help you?”  
“Sorry to interrupt, sir, but my oldest brother just called and he’s coming here tonight. I know it’s last minute, but I was wondering if I could take at least part of the day off tomorrow, so I could spend a little time with him. He’s only going to be here for a day or two.”  
“Unless a case comes up, take the whole day Garcia. It’s fine.”  
“Thank you sir,” she said before turning and leaving.  
“I’ve never heard her talk about her brothers.”  
“She’s only mentioned them a couple of times. She has four. I think they lost touch for a while, when she became the Dark Queen. I’m glad she’s taking the time to see him.”  
“Good for her. I’m going to head out. It’s getting late, and Lindy and Kat are coming over for dinner.”  
“Alright. I’ll see you tomorrow.”  
“Tomorrow. Have a good night, Aaron.”

“Well how did it go, Uncle Dave?” Lindy asked as they sat down for dinner.   
“Aaron has agreed. I think would be best if after your dinner tomorrow night you two came and stayed here with me just in case the team gets a case in the middle of the night. Are you ready for your dinner tomorrow.”  
“Yes and no.”  
“Mom, after you meet your birth father, could we please try to find mine. You of all people know how important this is to me.”  
“Kit Kat. I do know, and I have told you how many times, that when I feel that the time is right I will find him for you.”  
“Before I’m eighteen?”  
“Kat, don’t talk back to your mother. She said she will find him and she will. I will help if need be.”  
Kat tucked her hair behind her ears and quietly replied, “Yes, sir,” before picking her fork back up and starting to finish her dinner.   
After dinner when Kat had gone to the living room to watch tv while Lindy and Dave cleaned up the kitchen Rossi asked, “You do know who her father is?”  
“I do. Uncle Dave, there has only ever been one man in my life in that capacity. I fell in love with him when I was sixteen and I know it sounds crazy, but he is all I ever wanted. But I couldn’t let him give up his dreams for me. I had no way to get in touch with him then anyway, after I was kicked out.”  
“I can help you find him, if you want me too.”  
“I’ll let you know if I need any help. Thanks for the offer and the opportunity to follow your team. I don’t know how I will ever be able to pay you back.”   
“Don’t worry about it. To me, I’m righting a wrong done years ago. I should have done something then to help you then you could have been done with this by now.”  
“It’s not your fault. I did what I had to do. It wasn’t your place to rescue me. I had to do this the way it happened. My only wish is that when I find him, he will understand why I didn’t find him and tell him.”  
“If he is any kind of real man, he will be angry at first, but once he cools off he will see the big picture and understand. It won’t be easy.”  
“Life never is, Uncle Dave. I better get Kat and head home. We need to get a few things packed up, if we are going to come stay here for a little while.”  
“Ok. It may be quicker than you think. It never ceases to amaze me how many sicko’s there are in the world.”  
“I just hope the next sicko waits until after my dinner tomorrow to show up. As scared as I am, I really want to know who my birth parents are.”  
“I know, Bella. Everything will be fine. I know it will.”  
“Thank you, Uncle Dave,” she said smiling before turning to head into the living room. “Alright, Kat it’s time to head out. We need to go home and pack up a few things if we are going to come back and stay here with Uncle Dave for a few days.”  
“Ok mom,” Kat answered back getting up from the couch. 

“Preston, it’s so good to see you again,” Penelope said answering her door.  
“It’s good to see you too, sis. How have you been?” The tall blonde gentleman said stepping through her door.  
“I’ve been great. Work is good. What about you? And What has brought you here, finally?”  
“The truth. I’m here to meet my first child tomorrow. I’m nervous as can be.”  
“I don’t understand. Your first child?”  
“You’re not much older than her. I know I’m a lot older than you. When I was eighteen I met the most perfect woman. She had run away from home after her father had one too many to drink one night and instead of beating on her brother, turned his attention to her. Anyway, I won’t go into all that, but long story short we met on the beach fell head over heals and about a year later found out she was expecting. I had never been so happy, but our life together wasn’t meant to be. She died bringing our daughter into the world. I couldn’t cope. I didn’t know what to do with a baby without her. I gave my daughter up for adoption. She has found me after all these years. I’m meeting her for dinner tomorrow night.”  
“Oh my god. I had no idea.”  
“You wouldn’t have. Pen, that was thirty two years ago. You were what maybe eight?”  
“Five, thank you very much. Don’t make me too much older than I am. But, I see your point I wouldn’t have known much at that age. I wish I had known though.”  
“I’m glad you didn’t. I wouldn’t have been able to handle the questions of a five year old then. I was a total wreck.”  
“I remember you moving back home for a little while and staying in your room not ever joining us for anything. I remember mom being very worried about you.”  
“I barely survived then. I don’t know how many times I contemplated taking my own life just to be with her again. I still miss her every day. I was in no condition to raise a child by myself.”  
“Mom and Dad would have helped. I would have loved having a real baby around.”  
“I know but it hurt too much. She looked too much like her mother. As much as it pains me to admit it, I hated her for taking Mary away from me. I told mom and dad she died with her mother. I know I shouldn’t have and you will never know how many times I have regretted the decision over the years, but I believe in the long run, it was what was best for her.”  
Penelope didn’t know what to say, she just wrapped an arm around his shoulders and rested her head on a shoulder giving him what comfort she could while they both cried.

“Kit Kat, it’s time to get up. We both have class.”  
“Five more minutes, mom,” grumbled pulling her comforter over her head and rolling over.  
“No, now. Did you get everything packed up to go to uncle Dave’s?”  
“My bags are in the living room, where you told me to leave them, last night.”  
“Good then get up and get dressed, before I have to get the ice water,” Lindy warned walking back to her room to finish getting herself ready.   
Knowing her mother hardly ever bluffed, Kat got out of bed and was dressed waiting on her mother at the front door, when Lindy walked out of her bedroom ready to go. They each grabbed the bags waiting by the door and headed out to start the day. 

“Is your niece coming by today?” Hotch asked walking into Rossi’s office.  
“Nope. She has class today. If we get a case I’ll call her and she’ll meet us at the jet. She may come in tomorrow, if that’s ok with you.”  
“That’s fine with me. It would give the team a chance to meet her and get comfortable with her presence. And I would like to go over a few things with her, before she travels with us.”  
“I’ll let her know tonight. She and Kat are coming to stay with me until after she goes with us on a case. She does however have a dinner “date” tonight, that she doesn’t want to miss.”  
“Do you like her boyfriend?”  
“Not that kind of “date”. As far as I know she hasn’t been on that kind of date, since Kat’s father. She has been trying to find her birth parents for a while. Tonight she’s supposed to be meeting her birth father.”  
“That is an important “date”. I haven’t seen anything come across that warranted us leaving yet. Today should be a paperwork day. Which is good since we all have a lot to catch up on since we’ve been gone a lot lately.”  
“That we have. I’ve got enough paper work to keep me busy for a week. There is never an end to how sick some people can get.   
“You would think after all these years, it would at least slow down a little.”  
“I don’t think that’s going to happen any time soon.”  
“Me either,” Hotch said leaving the office and going to his own office.


	3. Chapter 3

“Bella, Piccola. How was your day?,” Dave asked as Lindy and Kat reached his house that afternoon.  
“Ok. I’ve got a test tomorrow, so I have to study this evening,” Kat said rolling her eyes.  
“Well, why don’t you go on and get on that while Uncle Dave and I talk a little bit before I have to get ready to go to dinner,” Lindy said.  
“Fine,” the teen said again rolling her eyes and getting up to go to the room she used when she stayed here.  
“Bad day?” Dave asked.  
“Not really, but the older she gets the more she wants me to find her dad and every time she asks I promise I will, but I don’t think she really believes me. I have to find him, soon. Honestly, I’m scared. What if he doesn’t remember me? What if he tries to take her away from me? I don’t think I could take it.”  
“I won’t let that happen. So, do you have class tomorrow?”  
“Nope. I need to work a little tomorrow.”  
“But you can do that anywhere with wifi can’t you?”  
“Yes. What are you getting at Uncle Dave?”  
“I talked to Aaron today. He would like you to come in and meet the team tomorrow and let them get used to you being there, if you could.”  
“I can. If it’s a slow ‘paperwork’ day as you call it. I can do my editing quietly in a corner of your office, if that’s ok with you.”  
“It’s fine with me. Chances are, we will probably get a case, though. It is very rare that we have a whole week without one. Are you ready for your dinner tonight?”  
“I think so. Can you every really be prepared for something like this? I have no idea what to expect.”  
“I have no idea what to tell you on that. I do hope you get some answers to questions I know you have had for years.”  
“More like my whole life. The closer to this day I come, the more I know and understand more than she realizes why Kat wants to find her dad. But I also get more afraid for both of us. What if neither of them accept us? I can handle my dad not being there. I’ve done it for years, but I don’t know if I can handle her’s rejecting her. My heart would break for her and I couldn’t bear for her heart to be broken like that.”  
“If he loved you even half as much as you say you love him, how could he not want her in his life. Give him a chance.”  
“I’ve never told her or anyone else for that matter this, but back then, he wasn’t sure if he would ever want to have kids of his own. He didn’t have the best childhood. His dad left him and his mom at a very young age. He never said what she had but his mom was sick. He had to take care of himself and her. He didn’t think he would want to take the chance of passing on her illness to another generation. He was always a bit paranoid that he would develop her illness himself.”  
“Did you ever consider not having Kat because of his reasons?”  
“No. I knew no matter what it wasn’t going to be easy, and that someday, I might have to give her up to someone that could care for her needs better than I could if something did develop. But, I loved him too much to let her go. She was all I had left of him. She is so much an extension of him. She may have my green eyes and darker hair, but every time I look at her all I see is him. It would kill me to ever have her taken away from me.”  
“Maybe you should talk to the youngest member of my team. It sounds like he and her dad had a very similar childhood. His dad left him at ten with a paranoid schizophrenic mother to take care of by himself. He had to have her institutionalized when he was eighteen. He has struggled with whether or not to take the chance of passing on her disease.”  
“Maybe. Right now I think I need to go get dressed for dinner,” she said before hugging him and turning to head to her room to change.

An hour later she walked into the room Kat was using freshly showered and dressed in one of her best dresses, hair done, ready to go. “Kit Kat, baby. I’m about to head out. Please be good for Uncle Dave.”  
“Mom, I’m not two anymore. I’ll be fine. I really hope you have a nice dinner.”  
“Thank you. I know you will be physically fine, but I’m serious. No Sass. You don’t want to be grounded while I’m gone, do you?”  
“Mom, the only way you have been able to really punish me for years has been to take away my books.”  
“Exactly. You don’t want me to have him lock up the library while we’re gone.”  
“You wouldn’t.”  
“Then do as you are told with Uncle Dave tonight. I’ll probably be late, so go on to bed at your normal time. We’ll talk about it tomorrow night or when I get back from the case, if there is one tomorrow. Love you, baby.”  
“Love you too, mom.”   
They hugged each other and then Lindy left. When she was gone, Kat went to the kitchen to see if Dave was fixing dinner yet.  
“Hey kiddo. What would you like for dinner?”  
“I don’t know. Nothing really sounds good.”  
“Instead of making a mess in this clean kitchen, what would you say if we ordered a pizza?”  
“Sounds about as good as anything.”  
“What test do you have tomorrow? You said you were studying for a test.”  
“Actually, I have three tests tomorrow. I’m not really worried about them though. They are in physics, calculus, and trig.”  
Rossi’s eyes got wide and he just shook his head. “Sometimes, I forget that you are about to graduate. You’re only fifteen. You shouldn’t be taking classes that hard yet.”  
“Uncle Dave, they aren’t that hard. Half the time, I finish my work before the teacher gets through explaining one problem to the rest of the class. I haven’t told mom, but last year I had myself tested through the school. I forged her name on the consent forms. Then my IQ was 180 and it was proven that my memory is borderline between being photographic and eidetic. Mom never wanted to have me tested, but I wanted to know. She’s been afraid that I would become a science experiment. I do have almost every college in the nation after me offering me academic scholarships. I am leaning towards starting my freshman year at Georgetown, since it’s close. Then eventually transferring to either MIT or Caltech for my junior and senior years and any post graduate degrees.”  
“What are you going to major in?”  
“I’m leaning towards forensic science, but I thought about biochemistry.”  
“How far do you plan on going in school?”  
“I want to eventually get a doctorate. I like the way Doctor Kathleen Riece Muzzarelli sounds. Unless, I decide to change my name once I find my dad. Sometimes, I think I might change my last name to his or add it to what I already have. I don’t know.”  
“Only you can decide what to do there. Keep up your studies. You’ll get there, kiddo.”

Lindy took a deep breath and got out of her car. She walked to the restaurant and gave the hostess the name of the man she was to meet, Preston Garcia, her biological father. She was led to the back of the restaurant to a table where a dark haired gentleman in a dark blue suite stood upon her arrival. He was tall and broad shouldered and looked nothing like what Lindy had always pictured in her mind. He looked like an older Ken doll fresh off the beach, dark tan, darker hair cut short, piercing almost black eyes. He held his hand out to her and she hesitantly took it and shook. They both slowly sat across the table from each other.   
“I hope you don’t mind. I thought this meeting would be a little better back here where it’s a little quieter. I can’t believe how much you look like your mother.”  
“No offense intended, but I obviously don’t look anything like you.”  
“No. You don’t. And none taken. Your mother was a beautiful woman.”  
“I would like to know more about both of you. And, why you chose to give me up. Do you know where she is now?”  
“I’ll answer any questions you have about both of us that I can. As for where she is, she died bringing you into this world. I decided to give you to someone better equipped to raise you than I was. I did it because when I lost your mother, I went to a very dark place. I wanted to keep you, but I knew it wasn’t what was best for you. I wanted you to have a life I couldn’t give you then. Your mother and I met at the beach when she was nineteen and I was eighteen. Her name was Mary. She had run away from home. She never came out and said why she left, but she alluded to an abusive home life. The day we found out about you, she was so excited and happy,” he paused when the waiter came by to take their drink order.  
“What was she like?” Lindy asked trying to keep the tears at bay.  
“She was an amazing woman. You are truly a mirror image of her. She was full of life and love. She loved the beach and to read. She read to you all the time. We moved in together just over a week after we met. I had a small apartment on the beach, and was going to night school, working in a surf shop. She got a job a a little drink stand a few doors down from the surf shop. After we found out about you, when she wasn’t working, I’d find her sitting on the beach on a towel in a sundress with a big floppy hat on reading out loud to you. When she fist started doing that, several of the kids playing on the beach around her would stop and sit with her while she read. It was nothing for me to find her with ten kids sitting around her listening. Eventually, she would bring a jug of lemonade and some plastic cups with her and while she read she would share her lemonade with the kids. We didn’t have much, but for us it was enough. When I lost her, I lost my everything. My parents made me move back home. They had me on suicide watch. I told them that you had died when she did. I may not have done everything the right way, but I wanted you to have everything I couldn’t give you at that time. Please tell me they were the people I wanted them to be, that they gave you everything I couldn’t.”  
“They were for the most part. I grew up in New Jersey. They were Italian so there were many big family dinners with all the cousins around. They never once treated me like I wasn’t part of their family, until I was seventeen, but we’ll get to that later. I had anything and everything I could have ever wanted before I asked for it. I played soccer and was pretty good, until I went to summer camp and broke my ankle. It still gives me problems occasionally. The summer I turned sixteen I did a summer internship with an ambassador’s office. I realized then that I was not cut out for politics,” she stopped when the waiter was back to take their food order.   
“I’m curious about what happened at seventeen. What did they do?”  
“It really wasn’t completely their fault. I decided that I was going to take the summer before my senior year in high school, the summer I turned seventeen, to decide what I really wanted to do with myself when I graduated. I had always been pretty studious, and had never given them any reason not to trust me. So they let me go to California and spend the summer on the beach by myself, calling three times a day to check in. I looked at a lot of schools while I was there though too. Especially the libraries. I constantly had my nose in a book back then. It was in the library of one of those schools, that I met him. I know all the old cliches about summer love, but there was something about him. I eventually got him out of the library and on the beach with his books to study. We spent every possible moment together, when he didn’t have class. He was already working on his doctorate at only eighteen. That summer was perfect. Then summer ended. I went home and the feelings never changed. We wrote everyday for four months, and then my parents found out what I had been hiding. I hadn’t told him yet in my letters either. I had wanted to go see him over Christmas break and tell him. My parents figured it out however and while my mom took me to the doctor to confirm, my dad tore my room apart and burned every reminder and letter I had from him. When my mom and I got home, I was given an ultimatum; have an abortion or get out. I left. I tried to get back to him, but by February, I was under nourished and at the end of my rope. I stumbled into a hospital in Chicago. There was a nurse there that once I was healthy enough to be discharged, took me in. She helped me find a job in the hospital. It wasn’t much but, she took me in until I was able to save up enough to get a small one room apartment. It wasn’t much, but she always made sure I had what was absolutely necessary. I don’t know what would have happened to us if it wasn’t for Fran and her girls. When Kat was born, the hospital had a daycare for it’s workers, and when Fran’s girls were out of school, they fought to get to babysit her for me. We still keep in touch with them. Kat has called Fran, Nana Ran, since she could talk.”  
“I hate that they did that to you. I wish that I could have been there for you. If you need anything ever, please just ask. I am much better able to provide for you and your daughter now. I now own that little surf shop I worked in when I met your mother as well as several others up and down the California coast.”  
“We are ok now. I am a junior editor for a publishing company. It’s not much, but it pays the bills. I’m going to school now on grants. We moved here for Kat to go to a better school. She has a full scholarship to one one of the top private schools in the nation here. She will be graduating in June at the top of her class. She is very smart. Her father graduated high school at twelve. He didn’t have the best experiences then. I have made sure she has had a close to a normal childhood as possible. Just after we moved here, I ran into my adoptive mom’s brother at the grocery store. Uncle Dave has been trying to make up for what they did, but I have tried to tell him he doesn’t have to. Kat is staying with him tonight while I’m here. I know she’s fifteen now, but this is a big city with a large crime population. I don’t want to leave her alone. Uncle Dave is a FBI agent.”  
“My sister works for the FBI. Not in your typical agent though. She is a technical analyst.”  
“I wonder if they know each other. It might be nice to get to know her eventually myself. It would be nice to actually have real family around again.”  
“I can introduce you to her sometime if you’d like. I’d like to get to know you and Kat more myself. I also have three brothers, but they all live in California. Parker is my attorney. Paxton is my accountant and Powell is a cop. Our parents had a thing for P’s.”  
“I see. What is your sister’s name?”  
“Penelope. She was the baby of the family. She’s a little different. We all had a bit of a falling out several years ago and have only recently been able to get back in touch with her. She went through a bit of a dark phase when our parents were killed in a car accident.”  
“That had to have been tough.”  
“It was, but at least we were all grown. She was eighteen. I wish I could have been there for you. I wish I could have kept you. I have no excuses other than being selfish. Will you ever be able to forgive me?”  
“I don’t know if there is anything to forgive. You did what you thought was right and for the first sixteen years of my life it was pretty much as perfect as it could get. No one could have predicted what happened. I wouldn’t change anything. Even the hard times.”  
They continued talking and enjoyed their dinner for a few hours, eventually leaving as the restaurant was closing at around one in the morning.   
Lindy made her way back to Dave’s and fell into bed instantly falling asleep.


End file.
